When Things Were Different
by Teddy R. Lupin
Summary: After a typical day of lectures at the Auror Academy - on March 10, 2018 - Theodore Remus Lupin disappears with a flash of light.  But he awakes in a world that he's only ever heard stories about.  A world in which his parents were still alive.
1. The Auror Academy

Hey there! This is purely an experiment to see if anyone likes it. I wrote it as the beginning of an RP with a friend and was interested in taking it on myself and writing a completely different story about it.

Please let me know what you think.

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"I'm sorry, Mr. Lupin, was I boring you?" The voice of Ronald Weasley drifted over to him, and Teddy's eyes opened wide. He looked around at the rest of the class, and groaned as he realized twenty pairs of eyes were focused on him.

"No," he replied automatically. Ron may have been as good as an uncle to him, but that had never stopped anyone from being harsh before. Harry Potter had practically raised him after his parents and grandmother died, but that - if anything - only meant that he expected more from the young Metamorphmagus.

The Auror continued to look at the young man cautiously, but said nothing else and continued to speak. As he had done five minutes previously, Teddy's mind drifted back to several weeks past, when he had visited Victoire at Hogsmeade.

If he said that he didn't miss her, he'd be lying.

He missed everything about her. Her smile, her knack for cracking a joke at the perfect time, and the mischievous glint in her eyes whenever she had an idea for a prank that would put her uncles Fred and George to shame.

Yes...Teddy Lupin missed Victoire Weasley more than he would ever admit.

But that wasn't important now. Focus. That was something Teddy lacked, and unfortunately something that was essential for an Auror. "Ted, can you identify what it is we're looking at?"

His eyes turned to the front of the circular room, and the typical grey turned to bright green as he stared at what he was supposed to be identifying. Of course he knew what it was. He'd watched longingly after the one that had rested in his godfather's study for nineteen years.

"A Time-Turner," Teddy said, his voice dry. He swallowed and Ron gave him a somewhat sympathetic glance. Or...at least, that was what Ted thought.

_If I had one..._ But that was a thought that always went unfinished. No matter how much he wanted to know the parents he'd never met, deep inside, Teddy Lupin knew it was wrong.

"Correct," was Ron's answer. Teddy nearly snorted. Of course it was. Though he tended to drift off in classes, that didn't mean he wasn't intelligent. Nobody needed to know that recently, the young Metamorphmagus hadn't been getting any sleep due to nightmares.

Nightmares that got progressively worse.

He'd been to St. Mungo's with much encouragement on his godfather's part, but they had all given him a clean bill of health and told him to stop putting so much pressure on himself.

_Ignorant pieces of shit_, Teddy couldn't help but to think. _Have you ever lost your family? Well, I have. Have a nice life._

As Ron wrapped up his lecture on the dangers of time travel, at which Teddy mentally scoffed at, he told the class to bring their cauldrons next time for the experimental brewing of Polyjuice Potion, apparently something that all Aurors needed to know, since it comes in handy for wartime strategies.

Teddy smirked. Of course, he was one that would never need to use something as _primitive_ as a potion to change his appearance. Not that he thought he was above all other people...no, it was by far the opposite. If he believed himself to be better, he would be destroying everything his parents fought and died for.

_And it was all because of a bastard who was raised in a fucking Muggle orphanage_, he thought with a grimace. What would have happened if Voldemort (or as he was known then, Tom Riddle) had been raised with people who showed love for him? Or was it just because he was the Heir of Slytherin, and evil was just something that was in his blood?

Teddy followed his classmates out of the room before Ron could stop him for a talk, as his uncles and family members had always tried to do since the beginning of his first year of Hogwarts.

He stepped into the Atrium, expecting to breathe in fresh air, but the usual breeze didn't come. He frowned, opening his eyes. He took a step forward, only to be pushed back several feet, trip over himself, and land on his arse.

_Great, a prank_, he thought as he groaned. _Something I really need right now. _

"Look, whoever you are, this isn't funny," Teddy said. The tenth of March was never a good day for Ted Remus Lupin...it was the birthday of his late father, Remus John Lupin. And no matter how much he tried to avoid it, somehow, he always ended up at his parents' grave. This was repeated on his mother's birthday as well. An artificial breeze blew past Teddy's ear, and he growled as it pushed his hair into his eyes. "Will you cut it out?"

The mysterious breeze gave no reply, as the young man had already figured. He snorted and ignored it, but soon, wind was swirling all around him, and when he tried to draw his wand, it was blown out of his hand.

"Bloody - " he yelped as his only defense lay on the ground, fifty feet away from him. He was carried away by the breeze that wasn't so light any longer, and just before he closed his eyes, Teddy saw a flash.

And when the Minister of Magic walked down the Atrium hallway ten seconds later, the only thing he saw out of place was the wand of a young man that he knew to be named Teddy Remus Lupin.

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Wow, Teddy's got a bit of a dirty mouth, hasn't he? I dunno. I couldn't resist using it. :) And oh no...he doesn't have his wand! Where has Teddy disappeared to? And what will come of it?

Please review...I seriously want to know if I should continue this. I kind of want to...but...I dunno. Thanks, you guys!

Ted(dy) R. Lupin


	2. The Tonks Estate

Wow, I seriously love you guys...the reviews were overwhelming. I didn't expect anyone to actually read this...much less review it. Thanks so much to **I-am-the-Wolf, Support Moony, Nymphadora Andromeda Lupin (you, my friend, are my hero), Poppy Quinn, LOGIN PASSWORD, strawberry moors**, and anonymous reviewer **kana117**, and the other, who gave no name. Thanks also to those who added this to alerts and favourites. :)

I hope this next chapter is up to expectations, I know I was in quite a different mindset last time...right now it's about 5:00 in the morning. Gah. The things I do for FanFiction. I had quite a lot of fun writing this chapter, though, so I hope you all enjoy it.

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**Previously in **_**When Things Were Different**_**…**

_The mysterious breeze gave no reply, as the young man had already figured. He snorted and ignored it, but soon, wind was swirling all around him, and when he tried to draw his wand, it was blown out of his hand._

_"Bloody - " he yelped as his only defense lay on the ground, fifty feet away from him. He was carried away by the breeze that wasn't so light any longer, and just before he closed his eyes, Teddy saw a flash._

_And when the Minister of Magic walked down the Atrium hallway ten seconds later, the only thing he saw out of place was the wand of a young man that he knew to be named Teddy Remus Lupin. _

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…And he barely had time to open his eyes before he crashed into an invisible border. He grimaced as he unsteadily stood, brushing messy blue hair out of his (currently violet) eyes. Blinking, he looked around. The grass surrounding him was unkempt, as if eyes hadn't been set upon it for years. As his eyes narrowed, he noticed a familiar house in the distance. It was the home he had grown up in – the Tonks Estate. It'd never been a huge home in itself, but his grandmother owned a fair bit of land, which had been ideal for Quidditch. But there were no goal hoops and no shed where the balls would have been kept.

_This is definitely weird_, Teddy thought to himself.

He narrowed his eyes and warily touched the invisible border that he had run into as he dropped into…wherever the hell he was. But to his surprise, it melted away at his touch. Taking a few shaky steps forward, the young man reached in his back pocket, only to find that his wand was gone…and he remembered why he was here in the first place.

_If this is someone's idea of a fucking prank…_ But that didn't particularly matter at this point, did it? His wand, the only weapon he possessed, was lying on the marble tile floor at the Ministry of Magic for anyone to find and keep.

He raised his hand and called, "_Accio Wand_!" He waited for a few moments, but…nothing. Wherever he was, he was defenseless. All he would have to do now is wait…

He snorted and nearly laughed. Wait for what, exactly? Another unnatural, freak wind to bring him back to where he had been?

"Brilliant," he muttered as he put his hands in his pockets and took a few more steps toward the house. Maybe Andromeda would be able to offer some explanation as to what happened to him.

But…still, something felt wrong. What were protection charms doing surrounding the Estate? Surely his grandmother would have told him if she was in danger. Was that why the makeshift Quidditch pitch had been taken down? To draw attention away from the fact that it was a magical dwelling? No. There was something else…something _bigger_…going on here.

He stopped in his tracks as he heard voices coming from the house.

"No! No, Remus, it isn't true!"

For a moment, Teddy felt like his heart had stopped beating.

Remus.

His father's name.

The response was so quiet that Teddy had to strain his ears to hear it. "Yes, it is, Dora. I'm so sorry, sweetheart…"

He squinted, and through the window, he could see a man wrap his arms around a woman with a bulging stomach. Her body shook as he held her…tears streamed down her pale, heart-shaped face.

Teddy's eyes widened in disbelief.

A pale, heart-shaped face.

Just like his.

He took in the man's tall frame and sandy-coloured hair that was laced with grey...at least from what he could see from his position.

"How could this happen?" The woman's shaky voice penetrated the momentary silence as well as Teddy's confused thoughts.

"It's war, love…" the man, Remus, said gently. He went on to say something else, but the young man's heart was thumping erratically.

_War? There hasn't been a war since…_

_Since Voldemort. _

Another thought struck Teddy, but he wouldn't believe it. He would not allow himself to believe that he had just been transported nineteen years into the past.

There hadn't been a war since…Remus and Nymphadora Lupin were alive.

Teddy took a few more tentative steps forward, and the man stepped out of his wife's embrace, his wand at the ready.

"Remus?"

When the woman got no response, she gently reached for her husband's forearm. He turned back only briefly.

"Remus, what is it?"

"Someone's on the property," he answered tersely, shaking her off. "Get back upstairs, Dora."

"Someone's on the property," Teddy whispered to himself. Then his eyes widened. _Oh, bloody fucking hell…_

He heard the door creak open and then slam shut…footsteps crept closer by the second. The turquoise hair that Teddy so favoured instantaneously morphed to his natural colour, a simple light brown. His eyes faded to a thrilling grey-blue, as natural as his father's had been. His heart beating in his chest, the young man took a few steps back…

…Unfortunately, that was just the advantage the tall man with the wand needed.

"Stupefy!"

"In the name of Merlin!" Teddy yelped, dodging the hex. Maybe he didn't have his wand, but…hey, he wasn't training to be an Auror for nothing, was he?

The curse was hurled towards him again, only for him to dodge it.

"Impedimenta!" was the one that came next, and it hit the younger man squarely in the chest.

Everything slowed down…even Teddy's thoughts, for a mere moment. He couldn't take another step without it being ten times the effort, and as his head looked upwards, he only heard the Stunning Spell being uttered in his direction once more before he slumped to the ground and hit his head on something hard.

His last coherent thought was, _Oh, hell_, before all faded into darkness.

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Well? I'm really iffy about this...but I hope you guys all liked it...I kinda worked hard-ish on it. Please review and tell me how I did! If I get enough, another chapter might me up even before the weekend's out!

And if you like the style of this story, and you're a fan of Remus (canon or non-canon) I would really appreciate it if you checked out **_"In Memory Of,"_** which is a story I wrote that sadly didn't get a huge showing. I mean, honestly...I thought I did rather well with it, yet it's my least-reviewed story with one review, courtesy of **Nymphadora Andromeda Lupin** (yes, you). So...thanks!

Ted(dy) R. Lupin


	3. Meeting the Parents

Hey! I'm so sorry, you guys...I thought I would have this chapter out a lot sooner than it ended up happening. I ended up only writing this today...being quite bored, if anything. Too un-tired to sleep, too tired to do anything else...I suppose fanfiction resides somewhere in between.

But anyway, thanks to those who reviewed last chapter: **Support Moony**, **Nymphadora Andromeda Lupin**, **LOGIN PASSWORD**, **Original Dinner Plate**, **I-am-the-Wolf**, **strawberry moors**, **st-potter**, **Bloody Phantom**, **emLILYEVANS**, and **PureAwesomeness13**, as well as anonymous reviewers **beetlejuice** and **kana117.** You guys are all awesome - I've gotten more reviews for this story per chapter than I ever have before, so I have definite hopes for this story, and I know how it's going to end up for sure now. :)

This, I've decided, is dedicated to **PureAwesomeness13**, who read and reviewed all my Harry Potter stories within a day. She's (as maybe you can tell by her username) a very awesome person. :)

So here's chapter three!

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**Previously in **_**When Things Were Different**_**…**

"Stupefy!_"_

"_In the name of Merlin!" Teddy yelped, dodging the hex. Maybe he didn't have his wand, but…hey, he wasn't training to be an Auror for nothing, was he? _

_The curse was hurled towards him again, only for him to dodge it. _

"Impedimenta!_" was the one that came next, and it hit the younger man squarely in the chest._

_Everything slowed down…even Teddy's thoughts, for a mere moment. He couldn't take another step without it being ten times the effort, and as his head looked upwards, he only heard the Stunning Spell being uttered in his direction once more before he slumped to the ground and hit his head on something hard._

_His last coherent thought was, _Oh, hell_, before all faded into darkness. _

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"He's got to be a Death Eater."

"No, Remus, he's not."

Teddy barely registered the quiet argument, feeling a warm hand on his forehead. He wanted to open his eyes, but he forced himself to keep them shut. Without giving any sign that he was awake, the nineteen-year-old Auror in training tried to recall what had happened.

_I'm…bloody fucking hell, I'm in the past. _

He managed to keep his groan silent, but he couldn't tell if the expression on his face had changed.

"Then what the hell is he doing here?"

So someone else had a temper as well. Teddy would have smirked if it were any other circumstance…but this was – quite obviously, as his parents were debating whether he was a Death Eater – not the right time.

"A Death Eater couldn't have gotten through the enchantments."

"_No one_ should've been able to get through the enchantments, Dora," came the hoarse response.

The woman's voice – at least, Teddy had assumed it was a woman's – let out an exasperated sigh and stroked the seemingly unconscious boy's forehead, then moving her hand down to his neck as if to feel for his pulse. Teddy knew his heart was thudding traitorously in his chest, but the gentle hands seemed to pay it no mind. There was silence for what seemed like an eternity, and when her voice spoke again, it was much quieter.

"Remus, look at him," her voice came, and unless Teddy was very mistaken, it sounded like she was close to tears. "He looks so much like _you_."

The man, Remus, took a few steps forward, and after a few seconds let out a half-hearted scoff, and unsteadily replied, "That's…not possible. I've always been…I couldn't have…"

The woman sighed, and if Teddy knew anything about Nymphadora Tonks, she was rolling her eyes. "You're older than me by thirteen years," she said quietly…as if she wanted above all else for this boy to be her son. "I know…and I've always understood that there were women in your past…and – "

But the young man's eyes shot open, effectively ending what had promised very early on to be an awkward conversation. His blue irises scanned the room…it looked very much like the home he was familiar with…minus the photos of him and Andromeda, Harry, and the Weasleys…and, of course, the special area of the sitting room dedicated to the war heroes, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin. But, quite obviously, there was no reason for a memorial when the heroes in question were alive and well. Not for the first time that evening, Teddy would have smirked if the situation had not been so dire.

The two people staring at him happened to be the most mismatched couple Teddy had ever seen. Not like him and Victoire –hell, he and Victoire had almost seemed like they were born for each other. But what did his parents have in common, exactly? He studied them in silence…so shocked at his current revelation to realize what it actually meant to have them in front of him…living and breathing. Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin (he figured they must have been married at this point) was a woman with a small frame, short pink hair, and a stomach that protruded from the evening robe that she was wearing. This struck Teddy as odd…how many people would ever see their mother – their dead mother, nonetheless – pregnant with themselves? She seemed bursting with energy and happiness and youth. On the other hand, Remus Lupin was a tall man with graying light brown hair (the exact shade of Teddy's natural colour, he noted, minus the grey), broad shoulders, and an extremely confused as well as wary expression. He was wearing a threadbare jumper over a thin shirt and pants that were obviously wearing down. This man, he recognized, was the one who had Stunned him before.

His eyes caught sight of Remus fingering his wand, and Teddy couldn't help but to smile softly at the devotion his father had already shown towards his family.

"You don't have to worry," he said quietly, surprising himself with a hoarseness that reminded himself of the voice his father had used, not ten minutes ago. Teddy ran his fingers through his hair, which was probably the easiest way for him to check what colour his hair was, and found, to his relief, that it was brown. His natural brown. At least he wouldn't get any funny questions about his hair. _For now_, he reminded himself. _Things can only stay simple for so long, I suppose…right?_ "I'm not a Death Eater."

Remus immediately frowned. "How do we know that?" was his first, most harsh question. And he turned to his wife. "Dora, I don't – " Teddy coughed purposely, and once they turned to look at him, he rolled up his left sleeve, revealing nothing but bare skin.

"I don't have the Dark Mark," he said, his voice quieter than he could've ever imagined it being. "I don't believe in what he stands for."

They both stared at the young man who couldn't have been more than twenty, and Nymphadora moved to sit beside him on the couch. "I don't want to believe you're one of them, like my superstitious husband over there," were the first words out of her mouth, and she smirked at him playfully, earning only a glare that probably meant, "_This isn't the right time_."

So that's were I got that from, Teddy mused.

"But?" He'd known from too many past experiences that the tone she was using would never work too well for the receiver.

"I don't think we can believe you without any proof," she said, giving him what could be called the equivalent of an encouraging smile.

"I…" His voice dry, Teddy swallowed, not sure what to say without giving away too much. "Er…I don't know how I got here…exactly. I was at work…and then there was this bloody wind…and some strange light. And I dropped my wand there…and I don't know," he finally confessed.

"Where do you work?" That question came from Remus, who had dropped his hand to his side, but was still studying the mysterious young man with a caution that would have made the Auror legend, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody proud.

With a second's thought, Teddy realized that his parents had known Moody on a very personal basis. That explains so much, he thought with an inward chuckle.

"_Constant vigilance_," he muttered under his breath, grinning to himself.

"What's that, boy?"

Alarmed, Teddy's face flushed when he noticed that he had said those words aloud. "Nothing," he mumbled embarrassedly, instantly morphing away the blush he knew was spreading across his pale face. "I…er…well, I work at the Ministry."

"The Ministry?" Remus asked, outraged, his eyes alight with fury.

"Not your Ministry!" the younger man shot back hotly, only realizing the damage he had done when it was too late to take it back.

He groaned to himself as the two adults stared at him, as if demanding an explanation.

_Bloody hell…what now?_

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So a little cliffhanger there...I realized that I wrote three pages...handwritten, which turned out to be much longer when I typed it. So if that's anything to go by, I have the next chapter written, essentially, it just needs to be improved, which I will get on quite soon.

But I hope I'm not moving too quickly for anyone...that's my utmost fear with this story...to end it too quickly. And also, I'm sorry if I didn't reply to any reviews. I always promise myself I will, but fanfiction was doing something screwy, and I couldn't reply via email, which threw me off a bit. That's just really annoying, because I know I replied to some, but probably not to all, because I couldn't remember which ones I replied to...oh well.

On a happier note, I got my tickets for Deathly Hallows Part 2...that final trailer reduced me to silence. Can't wait for the fifteenth! Also, thoughts on Pottermore?

You guys are all brilliant, and always remember to keep writing!

TRL (Ted Lupin)


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